


Observations of Passion and Romance

by Katyakora



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Hartley is on the waverider, M/M, implied background atomwave, stormpiper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 03:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12290547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katyakora/pseuds/Katyakora
Summary: When Hartley Rathaway winds up on board the Waverider, the timeship's unorthodox mechanic piques his curiousity.





	Observations of Passion and Romance

**Author's Note:**

> This was spawned by a post I saw by craptaincold about Hartley ending up on the Waverider that made me ship Stormpiper.
> 
> Let's assume Hartley got displaced when they broke time and decided to stick around for a bit when they picked him up.

“Move over.”

 

Jax startled at the sudden haughty command, focused as he had been on what he was doing, and thus was unprepared to offer any resistance to the delicate yet strong hand that shoved him a few inches along the bench. Hartley dropped down next to him with what could only be described as petulant elegance, the length of the bench forcing them to sit shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh.

 

“Uh...hey, Hart. What’s up?” Jax greeted him finally, because his mother had raised him to have manners.

 

“I came to see the Waverider’s chief engineer in action,” Hartley informed him breezily, intently examining the device currently in pieces on Jax’s workbench. 

 

The phrase sounded disdainful, but Jax had learned in the short time that Hartley had been on board that disdainful was simply his default setting. Admittedly, it had rubbed Jax the wrong way at first, the way Hartley seemed to look down on just about everyone. But then he had noticed the way Hartley seemed to relax and open up when he interacted with Mick. Mick was the only one of the crew Hartley had met before coming on board, and whatever history they may have had, there was a genuine trust between them, despite the fact that 70% of their conversation seemed to be good-natured insults. Watching the two of them, Jax had realised that Hartley used his haughty demeanour and superior intellect as a defence mechanism, an effective tool to protect his feelings after being burned too many times by blind trust. That, along with the fact that the young scientist seemed to genuinely like Mick, had begun to endear the otherwise abrasive Hartley to Jax. 

 

“Really? You get bored of following Mick around, then?” Jax guessed as he focused back on the repair work he’d been doing. Mick and Hartley had been as thick as thieves since Hartley’s arrival. He hadn’t meant it to, but his reply came out sounding oddly catty. There seemed to be something about Hartley’s meer presence that inexplicably raised the level of sass in any room he occupied. For his part, Hartley didn’t seem to notice Jax’s unintentional snideness.

 

“No, I had to escape,” he hissed dramatically. “Not Mick; questionable tastes aside, he’s a sweetheart.”

 

Jax raised his head from his tinkering to fix Hartley with an incredulous look. There were many words he might use to compliment Mick Rory, but ‘sweetheart’ most certainly was not one of them.

 

“We talking about the same Mick?”

 

Hartley gave him a condescending smirk.

 

“Trust me, underneath all that grizzly is a teddy bear.”

 

“Uh huh,” Jax murmured, his scepticism written across his face, “I’ll take your word for it. So then why did you need to ‘escape’?”

 

“Ray Palmer,” Hartley declared darkly, inciting a frown from Jax, who put his tools down.

 

“What? I thought you liked Ray. Or, well, didn’t hate him.”

 

“Don’t get me wrong, I love discussing the potential applications of chrono-temporal manipulation with someone who actually comprehends the concept as much as the next physicist. But with Mick there too, if I stayed in that room one second longer the UST was going to kill me!” Hartley exclaimed with a dramatic sigh. Jax stared at him incredulously.

 

“UST? Between Mick and-”

 

“-Palmer, yes.”

 

“No. No way,” Jax scoffed, shaking his head. Hartley raised an eyebrow at him.

 

“Are you seriously telling me you haven’t noticed Ray panting after him like the overgrown labrador he is?” Hartley asked what he must have thought was reasonably. “Or that Mick has that whole ‘brooding in the corner because I don’t think I deserve love but would gladly die for this idiot’ thing going on?”

 

Jax opened his mouth to argue but closed it again before a sound could come out. He frowned, thinking it over, and Hartley didn’t bother to hide his amusement as Jax’s eyes slowly widened with belated realisation.

 

“Damn, I think you’re right.”

 

Hartley preened. “I’m always right.”

 

Jax rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah?” he challenged. He pointed down at one of the components on his workbench. “What’s this for?”

 

Hartley’s answering look was noticeably unimpressed.

 

“I said I’m always right, not that I know everything, and you are well aware that there is a vast difference.”

 

“True,” Jax conceded with a shrug. “Still though, Ray and Rory? How did I not see it before?”

 

“Compulsory heterosexuality,” Hartley said sadly with a sympathetic pat on Jax’s shoulder. “Society’s fault, not yours. And Mick doesn’t exactly advertise that he’s got a thing for pretty adrenaline junkies with martyr tendencies. Like I said; questionable taste.”

 

“Come on, Ray’s a pretty solid dude,” Jax couldn’t help but defend his teammate. “What’s so questionable about him?”

 

The disdain in Hartley’s look now was entirely intentional.

 

“Common sense is attractive. Idiots willing to throw their lives away are not.”

 

“...you’re not wrong.”

 

“We already established I’m always right.”

 

Hartley smiled in satisfaction and Jax couldn’t help but notice the way his smile lit up his eyes and smoothed away all his sharp edges to make him look soft and inviting. Jax resolutely turned his attention back to his task, and for a while Hartley seemed content to simply watch him work. This left Jax entirely undistracted from how close they were sitting; the warmth of Hartley at his side radiated through him as a constant reminder of the other man’s presence. 

 

“Why you?”

 

Jax jumped ever so slightly as Hartley’s voice broke their companionable silence. 

 

“Um, why me what?” he asked distractedly as he checked to make sure he hadn’t accidently connected the wire to the wrong port.

 

“Mick said Hunter chose you, specifically, to be the ship’s mechanic.”

 

“Well, I am a mechanic,” Jax pointed out and Hartley rolled his eyes.

 

“If you really expect me to believe that the inner workings of a 22nd century timeship even vaguely resemble the average combustion engine in any way, shape or form, I am insulted,” he scoffed. “There were clearly more qualified individuals on board, so why did Hunter pick the young rookie mechanic?”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Jax laughed, and now it was his turn to be disdainful. “More qualified? Yeah, maybe. But more trustworthy? More reliable? I don’t think so.”

 

“Oh, really?” Hartley goaded.

 

“Yes, really. Ray could do it, but you know he’d overclock something and the whole ship’d blow. Stein could learn, but he’s way too much of a perfectionist; he’d take forever to do the littlest thing. And yeah, Mick got trained by the Time Masters and he does occasionally give me a hand when I need it, but he also suggested I fix the crack in the chronal flux capacitor with duct tape.  _ Duct tape! _ ”

 

“So that’s why he chose you,” Hartley drawled thoughtfully, his penetrating gaze raking Jax up and down. 

 

“‘Cause he knew I wouldn’t blow up his ship?” Jax guessed flippantly. Hartley chuckled at that, a low, rich sound that spread an unexpected warmth through Jax’s chest.

 

“Well, that too, along with the fact you are clearly intelligent enough to become a competent and skilled engineer in a short time frame with limited resources. But no, I think he picked you for your passion,” Hartley stated decidedly. “You clearly love this ship and, after all, ‘science is not only a discipline of reason, but also one of romance and passion’.”

 

Jax blinked, flattered by Hartley’s assessment and surprised by the poetic quote. He cleared his throat, trying to fight back a blush.

 

“I just like to fix things,” he demurred, looking away.

 

“Yes,” Hartley agreed in a purr, “passionately.”

 

Jax glanced back up and swallowed audibly at the realisation that Hartley was leaning closer than was strictly necessary or polite. The look in his eyes was openly warm and speculative. Jax wet his lips nervously and watched as Hartley’s gaze unselfconsciously tracked the movement. He met Jax’s eyes once more and cocked one eyebrow with a devilish smirk, a clear challenge daring Jax to make the next move. Jax found himself leaning in a little further, the draw of the other man almost magnetic.

 

“So, you think science is about passion and romance, huh?” Jax asked lowly with attempted nonchalance. Hartley’s smirk widened.

 

“They’re Stephen Hawking’s words, but I do agree.”

 

“Uh huh. Is that why you’re so good at it?”

 

“Why, Jefferson, are you implying I’m a passionate romantic?”

 

“More like asking?” Jax hated how unsure he sounded, his jumping nerves ruining any chance at being suave. And yet, Hartley seemed delighted.

 

“Why don’t you find out?”

 

Hartley closed a little more of the distance between them, and Jax was now absolutely certain that the blatant flirtatious invitation was not just his imagination. Sitting so close, already practically nose to nose, Jax barely had to move to press a soft, tentative kiss to Hartley’s smirking lips. The happy noise of satisfaction Hartley made in his throat chased away Jax’s nerves, as did the hands that slipped around his neck and gripped his collar, allowing Jax to melt into the glorious sensations. Hartley deepened the kiss, pushing closer and closer until he was straddling Jax’s lap, much to his agreement. Jax smiled against his lips, his hands settling on the smaller man’s hips, letting Hartley direct the intensity of their kiss while giving as good as he got.

 

“Passionate enough for you?” Hartley asked breathlessly as they finally parted for air, their clothes mussed and Hartley’s hair wild. Jax grinned at him cheekily. 

 

“Definitely. But, you know, initial results are meaningless if you can’t prove repeatability…”

 

Hartley’s responding grin sent a delicious shiver up Jax’s spine.

 

“I’m happy to volunteer for as much testing as you need. Even if it takes all night.”

 

Jax chuckled as he pulled Hartley back in, eager for more now that he’d had a taste.

**Author's Note:**

> "Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion."  
> \- Stephen Hawking
> 
> Story spawned by this post: https://katyakora.tumblr.com/post/163577299757/what-if-hartley-joined-the-legends


End file.
